Uruguay

• Sunday, May 17th 2009 - 12:55 UTC

  Uruguay scraps rules banning homosexuals from armed forces

  

  This week Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez announced that his government will “allow gays to join the armed forces” by scrapping military rules that define homosexuality as a disorder”.

• Sunday, May 17th 2009 - 12:52 UTC

  Uruguayan rice crop with record yield of 8.012 kilos per hectare

  

  Uruguay’s rice 2009 crop is estimated in 1.3 million tons and although the area planted was 4.5% less that in 2008, yield is a record 8.012 kilos per hectare, according to the latest release from the Agriculture Statistics Department, DIEA.

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 12:09 UTC

  Uruguay’s president calls for “deeds” and an end to Argentine pickets

  

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez called for “deeds” from Argentina and insisted that the administration of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner must remove the pickets which for two years have cut the traffic between the neighbouring countries in protest over the construction of a pulp mill.

• Monday, May 11th 2009 - 08:41 UTC

  Uruguayan president visit to Paraguay to talk Mercosur and energy

  

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez is scheduled to visit Paraguay this week to participate in a new anniversary of the country’s independence and hold private talks with President Fernando Lugo.

• Saturday, May 9th 2009 - 07:30 UTC

  Uruguay imposes sanitary controls at Argentina and Brazil borders

  

  Uruguay extended sanitary controls to borders with Argentina and Brazil following the confirmation of several cases of the influenza A/H1N1 in its neighbouring countries, the first to be reported in Mercosur.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:32 UTC

  Montevideo, best quality of life; Santiago leads in infrastructure

  

  Uruguay’s capital Montevideo remains the best city for quality of life for foreign executives in Latinamerica, while Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince is the worst, according to the latest survey from Mercer.

• Thursday, May 7th 2009 - 08:41 UTC

  Uruguay/Brazil will operate in local currencies to ensure bilateral trade

  

  Uruguay and Brazil expect to have bilateral trade operations in their respective local currencies in place in a few months time, according to the Uruguayan Central Bank. The system is similar to that implemented between Brazil and Argentina and which is beginning to be operational.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2009 - 10:20 UTC

  Private consultants coincide Uruguay is experiencing mild recession

  

  Uruguay will suffer a mild recession in 2009 which could extend until 2010, according to the latest report from private Consultants Oikos. Growth is forecasted to be in the range of 0.5% to 1% this year which is associated to at least two running quarters with falling economic activity.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2009 - 04:36 UTC

  Iran’s statements on Israel divide Uruguayan ruling coalition

  

  Uruguay’ Foreign Affairs official rejection of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad latest statements regarding Israel and the Holocaust have caused “disappointment” in certain groups of the ruling coalition since they believe the government “caved in to lobbying from the local Israelite Committee”, reports the Montevideo press.

• Monday, May 4th 2009 - 07:55 UTC

  Six companies present offers for potential natural gas deposits in Uruguay

  

  Six foreign companies have presented offers to explore a natural gas deposit off Uruguay's Atlantic coast, announced Uruguay’s government owned oil company Ancap, Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland